After oil refineries in Texas and Louisiana have shut down because of Hurricane Harvey, locals are rushing to get gas. Student drivers who went to fill up their cars this past week have had to wait in lines for hours, pay more than the normal price, and even witnessed fights.

“I went to get gas Wednesday night when I heard about the shortage from my friends and had to go to two different ones in Aubrey,” junior Evan Jenkins said. “By the time I got to the one that still had gas, the line was all the way around the gas station and I paid $20 for half a tank which is what I normally pay for a full.”

Students heard about where to go from friends and constantly updated each other on social media. Junior John Sermania went to the gas station after receiving messages about the situation but left after watching verbal fights ensue.

“All of my friends were fearing we wouldn’t have gas so we flocked to our local stations,” Sermania said. “The line was about a mile long and when I pulled up to the pump, I heard people at the ones next to me screaming about who would get to fill up their tank first. They looked like they were about to fight and it was chaos. Luckily, I got out of there as soon as I could.”

Although the hurricane caused the nation’s largest refinery to be shut down, junior Alex Corbeill thinks the great influx of everyone is what is causing the problem.

“There is no crisis,” Corbeill said. “All the people rushing to get gas are causing it. It’s just people over-using the gas we have for no reason.”

Other students also said that this isn’t as bad of a situation because our cars are more efficient than people think.

“There is no reason to panic,” junior Phillip Johnson said. “This problem is not as significant as people are making it out to be because our cars are more efficient today than ever before.They’ll last longer and all of our gas will not disappear.”

No matter why the shortage has occurred, parents are still concerned. Students Cater and Callie Leland have been told by their parents to limit where they drive so they don’t run out.

“Anytime I have gone to get gas, there are at least 20-30 cars in line and you are limited to the amount of gas you can purchase,” Callie said. “My mom has limited me to only work and school to conserve. I agree because I know the problem will be resolved soon but we have to save what we can until it does.”

This gas shortage is expected to last about two weeks but most refineries have not said when they would be open again. 

“From not pressing down on the pedal when I’m going down steep hills to just staying in Prosper, I’m conserving as much gas as I can,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we should be too worried because everything will go back to normal in the next couple weeks but until then, we should still be cautious.”